Enlarge / Artist's conception of D&D fans holding back WotC's attempts to change the game's license. (credit: WotC)

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) owner Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has halted its attempts to update the longstanding Open Gaming License (OGL) that has dictated the legal use of the game's rules for decades. The move comes after weeks of controversy and belated attempts to partially scale back leaked plans for an OGL update.

The original OGL 1.0a, first released in the early '00s, will now "remain untouched" WotC announced in a tweet Friday. What's more, the entire D&D Systems Reference Document (SRD)—which also includes creative content like classes, spells, and monsters trademarked and copyrighted by WotC—is now available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, meaning it's free to use as long as proper credit is given.

WotC's full retreat in this licensing battle comes as WotC says survey feedback on the latest draft update to the license was "in such high volume and its direction is so plain," that the company felt it had to act immediately, as Executive Producer Kyle Brink wrote on the D&D Beyond blog.

Enlarge / Artist's conception of D&D-maker Wizards of the Coast trying to destroy its original Open Gaming License with fire. (credit: Lego / WotC)

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)-maker Wizards of the Coast's (WotC) latest attempt to update its decades-old Open Gaming License (OGL) still includes the controversial statement that "the Open Game License 1.0a is no longer an authorized license." The news comes after the company's first attempt to draft an OGL update with similar language (and other controversial changes) was met with widespread fan outrage and alienation from the creator community.

WotC says this proposed "deauthorization" of OGL v1.0a won't affect any original content that was published under that earlier license since its debut in the early '00s and that such content won't need to be updated or relicensed to comply with any new OGL language. But any content published after the proposed OGL v1.2 goes into effect would not be able to simply choose the earlier license instead, according to the update as drafted.

In an explanatory post on the D&D Beyond blog, WotC Executive Producer Kyle Brink said that WotC realizes this planned deauthorization is a "big concern" for the community. But he added that it's a necessary move to enforce the new OGL's restrictions on illegal and/or hateful content, including "conduct that is harmful, discriminatory, illegal, obscene, or harassing," as determined by WotC.